Planning Your Ultimate Visit to Plitvice National Park

Last updated on November 22nd, 2022 at 12:54 pm

If you are looking for a magical destination in Croatia, then look no further than Plitvice Lakes National Park. Here you will discover beautiful lakes, gorgeous cascades, and other stunning nature scenes. It is a a magical place that feels like something straight out of a fairytale book. In this guide, I hope to help give you some advice for how to plan your own visit to Plitvice National Park in Croatia.

Some Information About Plitvice National Park

Plitvice Jazera is HUGE and I mean ginormous 296.8 km² park. It was added to the UNESCO world heritage list in 1979 because of the unique geological processes that have created the beautiful landscape that we can now enjoy. The lake section, which is composed of 16 lakes and 90 waterfalls, only makes up only about 1% of the park. This is the main portion that people come to see for themselves.

While 1% might not seem like a lot, our visit to Plitvice National Park took an entire day (9am-6pm). I felt like we still didn’t see everything in the main section. After our visit to Plitvice National Park, I absolutely recommend spending at least one full day here. You might even want to consider two days. Of course, this all depends on how extensively you want to explore the trails.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Plitvice1-1024x662.jpg — View looking down from Entrance 1

Plitvice National Park Layout

One of the things I loved the most about a visit to Plitvice National Park is how the boardwalks and paths are organized. You don’t just stay on the banks of the lakes, but instead you cross over them often. You can more easily watch the fish dance below the crystal clear, teal-blue water and admire the waterfalls up close and personal. And, if you’re like me and you ever wondered what it might be like to walk on top of a waterfall, sometimes the path even goes up over a small cascade.
Overall, the park is very well organized, lending itself to great photography opportunities at prime locations throughout your journey.

There are seven trail loop options that take you through different areas of the park. You can choose your route based on a few factors: the length of time you wish to spend in the park and also the difficulty of the trails.

IMPORTANT: Not all of the routes start at the same entry point! Programs A, B, and C all start at Entrance 1. Programs E, F and H all start at Entrance 2 and are similar to A, B, C only they have you traveling in the opposite direction. Program K is a full day hike that covers the entire park and you can start at either Entrance 1 or . My best advice is to try and choose your route before you buy your tickets (since they are entry point specific).

Some Thoughts on Different Routes:

> In my opinion, Program C is the best option if you are trying to get to the most spectacular views in the least amount of time. Keep in mind that even with the ferry from P3 to P2, this route will take about a 4-5 hours. Program C starts at Entrance 1.

> If you are on more of a time crunch, or not much of a hiker, I would recommend Program E. This route basically covers the upper lakes. This was probably my favorite part of the park because it seems more “concentrated” with lots of smaller cascades. (Please note that you will miss out on some of the larger cascades, such as Veliki Slap, which is located near Entrance 1). Altogether, 2-3 hours is recommended for Program E and it begins at Entrance 2.

> If you have all day, and are up for a longer hike, then I definitely recommend Program K. This route will require 6-8 hrs and begins at Entrance 1. This is the hike that we personally did and it covers the entire lakes section of the park. It was mostly easy hiking, but there were a couple of steep sections that might be more difficult for some people or smaller children.
Full disclaimer: towards the end of the day we were getting pretty tired. So, we opted to take the ferry from P2 to P3 (instead of hiking that leg of the journey) to cut down on the time. Overall, I think we were both very satisfied with our time in the park.

> Don’t forget to check out the other route options on the official Plitvice website to decide which route is best for you and your travel crew!

Things to Take Note of:

Please note: While there is some signage to help you stay on your designated loop, we found that there were intersections where it was not always immediately clear to us which path we were supposed to take. Be sure to have a copy of the map either in hand or a screen shot on your phone (as some areas of the park don’t have great reception).

Insider tip: I highly recommend bringing food with you into the park (even if it’s just some little snacks). You will absolutely want to bring water with you. There are only a few restaurants/cafes and they are quite spread apart across the park. By the time we were ready for lunch, we were so far away from any of these places that it took us a good 1.5 hrs to get to food.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Plitvice9-1.jpg

How to Buy Tickets For Your Visit to Plitvice National Park

This magical waterfall park is HIGHLY popular with over 1 million visitors each year. According the official website, tickets may only be purchased in advance, at least one day prior to your visit. I personally recommend securing your tickets at least a few days in advance, if possible. Please go to the official Plitvice website to buy your tickets.

Please note that tickets are divided by “time slots” and “entrance points” (see more information about the entrance points in the next section). You must enter during that exact time slot at the correct entrance point or else you will forfeit your ticket.
For Example: If your ticket is at 9:00am, you may enter within the hour of 9-9:59am. But not earlier nor later.

How to Get to Plitvice National Park:

By Car:

In my personal opinion, it is best if you can travel to Plitvice Lakes by car. Having a car gives you a lot more flexibility if you want to stay for more or less time. As far as parking your vehicle, there are two large parking areas: Entrance 1 and Entrance 2. It is best if you choose which Program you would like to follow first and then buy your tickets for the entrance associated with that route. The cost for parking a car is currently 8 Kn/hour. This is paid at the stalls in the parking lot BEFORE getting in your car to leave.

IMPORTANT: I will say it again. Pay for your parking after you are finished at the park, but BEFORE returning to your car! 😉 You can check the updated parking price for vehicles and other forms of transportation here.

After doing a lot of research, I decided that I wanted us to do Program K. So, we bought our tickets for Entrance 1. To me, Entrance 1 is the “grand entrance”. Shortly after you enter the park, you get a marvelous view of the Veliki Slap. Also, as you move through the park, you will be moving uphill. That means that you will be facing most of the waterfalls head on as you approach them (as opposed to having to turn around frequently to look back at them).

Distances From Nearby Cities:

Split: 258 km, just over 2.5 hrs

Zadar: 133 km, just over 1.5 hrs

Zagreb: 137 km, about 2 hrs

Dubrovnik: 447 km, about 5 hrs

Group Day Trip Options

There are multiple day trip options from Split if you do not have the option to drive in Croatia. You can find these on popular sites such as getyourguide.com, viator.com, and tripadvisor.com. Please note that it is about a 2.5-3 hour drive to the park from Split, so this will be a long day and involve about as much driving as it does sightseeing. You can also check out day trip options from other nearby cities on these websites.

By Bus

If you would like to find out more about bus options to Plitvice, I recommend checking out the Rome2Rio website. You can easily find options from Split, Zadar, Zagreb, and other Croatian cities. They include maps to help you plan your trip as well as links to the sites where you can purchase your bus tickets.

In Conclusion

I hope that this post has inspired you to consider a visit to Plitvice National Park in Croatia. It truly is a magical place that will inspire you.

Happy Travels,
<3 Christine